New Data May Boost Case
For Abbott's Xience Stent

By

Jon Kamp

Updated Oct. 22, 2007 6:00 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON &mdash; New one-year data released for Abbott Laboratories Inc.'s Xience drug-coated stent continued to show positive results in a head-to-head match-up with the Taxus stent made by Boston Scientific Corp., potentially helping Abbott's case as it seeks to enter the U.S. market.

The Spirit III trial is the pivotal study Abbott is using to try to garner U.S. regulatory approval for Xience, which some analysts have said has market-leading potential. Abbott is aiming for a Nov. 29 review before a Food and Drug...